The St. Louis invitational Draws To A Close

After a round last night that left everyone wondering what had happened to the best bull riders in the world, we begin to look ahead to an exciting day of action here on Championship Sunday as the top 35 bull riders in the world will come in with guns drawn. Remembering that we were only able to watch ten qualified rides being made Saturday night, everyone knew that there was still a good possibility that they would be able to make the Championship Round later this afternoon with a solid performance in round two. When days come about like what we will see this afternoon, it sparks major excitement and brings fans to the edge of their seats as they anxiously await to see who will take advantage and move on to the championship round to see who will walk out with the St. Louis Invitational event title.

Last night, it looked on paper as if we would see a good number of qualified rides but to all of our amazement, we would see the complete opposite making today’s second round that much more exciting but the caliber of bucking bulls would not make it easy. Those bull riders here this afternoon would have to endure the bovine power that the top stock contractors would be bringing to then in order to make it through the second round in hopes of earning one of the fifteen spots available in the championship round later this afternoon. After a gritty performance last night, Derek Kolbaba comes into today sitting atop the leaderboard but a few of the virtual unknowns here this weekend made a good run and have set themselves up for a real shot at making their first championship round as well which should make for an exciting finish here in St. Louis.

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira Takes Home The Round Two Win In St. Louis

Photo Credit: Rokin’ K Photos / Jeana Wilson-Kilcrease

As the doors opened and the hustle and bustle of Championship Sunday began to come alive outside of the Scottrade Center, the sold-out crowd could be seen sharing stories and going over the draw sheet in hopes of picking out who will advance and ultimately come out of here this afternoon as the event champion. Along with all of the interactive displays that were featured along the concourse there were also many opportunities for the fans of the PBR to get up close and personal with some of the biggest stars of the Monster Energy Unleash The Beast Tour who posed for pictures and signed hundreds of autographs before the start of round two. As the time grew closer to the start of the action, fans would quickly make their way to their seats and begin to get ready for the moment they all had been waiting for!

Once the lights dimmed and the pyrotechnics began to light up the arena floor, it signified that the time had come to open up the Championship Sunday action here in St. Louis as we all got ready to watch some of the best bull riding action that the world has to see right here in the Midwest! As stated earlier, there were only ten qualified rides made in round one which would set up an absolute shootout here in round two. Once things were all said and done, we would be able to add another ten qualified rides to that list which would round out and fill the fifteen spots for the championship round. That being said, Wallace Vieira de Oliveira would be the man to come out on top of the field here this afternoon with a nice 86.50 point ride aboard Phenom Genetics/JCL Bucking Bulls/Waller Brothers Cattle Company ‘s Get Smoked to send him into the championship round with a round two win and the 100 world title race points that go along with it!

Complete Qualified Ride Break down From Round Two In St. Louis:

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira (86.50) Guilherme Marchi (85.50)

Cody Nance (85.00) Stetson Lawrence (83.75)

Mason Lowe (83.25) Ueberson Duarte (82.25)

Cody Teel (82.25) Dener Barbosa (82.00)

Tanner Byrne (77.25) Lindomar Lino (76.25)

Luciano De Castro Comes Out On Top In The Championship Round

Photo Credit: Rokin’ K Photos / Jeana Wilson-Kilcrease

Once the first two rounds were completed in St. Louis, it was finally time to see who would make it out of qualifying and ultimately who would walk out of Missouri being crowned the 2018 St. Louis Invitational event champion. This weekend specifically, all of the top 35 bull riders in the world were hoping to put up great numbers and come out feeling confident and having clear heads about them as we would leave and head into our second major event next weekend in Arlington, Texas. For many, they would have to figure out what is going wrong and spend this week trying to fix the mistakes as the Iron Cowboy event is just six days away which will offer a huge payday to the winner and many chances to earn some extra world title race points that will cause some huge shakeups in what the world standings will look like.

After all the rides scores were calculated and the injuries were replaced in the draw, it was finally time to announce to those watching live who would make their way to the championship round of the St. Louis Invitational. Although the totals were pretty lackluster before the final round, high hopes were in order for what would be seen earlier this afternoon while pairing up the top riders from the event with many of the top bull that are competing for a world title themselves. Once all was said and done, there would be five of the fifteen that would be able to make the buzzer with Luciano De Castro coming out ahead of the rest after earning a huge 90.25 point ride aboard Henry Wilson/Wallgren Bull Company’s Shownuff to bring home the championship round win here at the 2018 St. Louis Invitational, taking home a cool 100 world title race points for his efforts!

Tanner Byrne Celebrates His 2018 St. Louis Invitational Win

Photo Credit: Rokin’ K Photos / Jeana Wilson-Kilcrease

Coming into this weekend’s event, the top 35 bull riders in the world wanted to have a memorable two days as we look ahead as to the second major event of the 2018 PBR’s Monster Energy Unleash The Beast Tour, The Iron Cowboy. Everyone would need to come in feeling healthy and with clear minds, being full of confidence as it is one of the most grueling one-day events on the tour each and every year. Historically, the St. Louis event would be a tune-up to the big show next weekend and this year is no different as many veterans are making their returns to the arena following injuries and we welcome some new faces and names that are looking to earn enough points to make their way to next weekend’s event with all of the others on tour. Before we can look too far into the future, we need to crown a champion right here in St. Louis in which we did just that earlier this afternoon!

Although it has been a tough road coming back from injuries, many of those competing here this weekend tried to regain the confidence and overcome the hesitation that they had trying to protect themselves. That being said one of those cowboys is going to have a great time in St. Louis tonight with his PBR family celebrating his first win of the 2018 Monster Energy Unleash The Beast season. That man would call our neighbors to the north home and also sharing the arena floor with his brother who protects him. This weekend, Canada’s own Tanner Byrne would be the only man to go a perfect three-for-three while earning 249 points to bring home the 2018 Monster Energy Unleash The Beast St. Louis Invitational presented by Express Employment Professionals!

After watching two rounds were only ten riders in each were able to make qualified rides, most of us watching were not expecting to see any qualified rides in the championship round but were pleasantly surprised by the extreme turn around we witnessed. The moment that a majority of these guys needed a confidence boost, they received just that as we pack our things and make our way to Arlington, Texas and the AT&T Stadium for a huge weekend of western sports action with the RFD-TV’s The American and the PBR’s Iron Cowboy. Our Rodeo Round Up team will be making our way south later this week in order to bring you all of the interviews, stories and round recaps from both of these fantastic events as we are set to make history again in 2018!

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